Corona Devo 3146

What are we doing with our lemons?  

Lemons are so sour.  Bitter.  To taste a lemon in its raw form causes our face to contort and our taste buds to revolt at their tart acidity.   

When life gives us lemons...what are we doing with them?  

When life (circumstance/diagnosis/grief/sorrow/reality) in its raw form causes our heart and our spirit to contort, and our hope to revolt...what do we do?

What are we doing with our life-lemons today?  

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”  ~Deuteronomy 31:8

~~~

I've attended hundreds of soccer games for my kids over the years, but today I was blessed (for the first time) to sit in the stands for a power soccer game...which is played by people confined to wheelchairs.  

The wheelchairs are automatic (and fast!), and are outfitted with body and leg safety-belts for the players.  Their legs may not function as fully as yours and mine (or at all), but their minds and hearts sure do! 

I watched students and adults whiz around a basketball court on wheels and in perfect precision.  I saw them make crisp passes from one wheelchair to another teammate's wheelchair, and they could spin-around or stop-on-a-dime at will. 

They had plays, and they scored goals, and they had fun.  

I am fairly certain that none of the power-soccer players could walk...but they have learned how to play power soccer with skill and adeptness.

What are we doing with our life-lemons today?  

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  ~Philippians 4:13

~~~

We were invited to the power-soccer awareness-fundraiser game by one of our son's good friends who lost the ability to walk in middle school.  

In middle school he became confined to a wheelchair.  

What would we do with those lemons?

This young man has made lemonade.  
He decided to keep living life, and he is an inspiration to many, including me.  

He loved to play soccer when he could walk, and he decided to continue loving and playing soccer when he could not.  

Why, my soul, are you downcast?  Why so disturbed within me? 
Put your hope in God,for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.  ~Psalm 42:11

He discovered and learned and became excellent at power soccer.  He plays on the only team of its kind in our state and (a current senior in high school), he received scholarship to attend (and play power soccer) at Auburn University (the only university in the U.S. with a power soccer team).

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  ~Jeremiah 29:11



~~~

Life sure is not easy.  

Our lemons might be physical.  Our sour-spot may be relational.  Our tart may come from emotions or finances or brokenness. 

When life gives us lemons...what are we doing with them?  

When life (circumstance/diagnosis/grief/sorrow/reality) in its raw form causes our heart and our spirit to contort, and our hope to revolt...what do we do?

What are we doing with our life-lemons? 

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? (2) My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. (3) He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber...  ~Psalm 121:1-3

The (good!) Lord watches over us, Y'all.  He is with us in our seasons of sweetness, and (Believe it!  Trust it!  Know it!)--He is with us when life in its rawest form causes us to contort and revolt.

But better days are coming.  Perhaps today---keep trusting Him for it.  And definitely in the last days, things will get better, regardless of what lemon we are sucking on today.

In the last days, the mountain of the Lord’s house will be the highest of all—the most important place on earth.  It will be raised above the other hills, and people from all over the world will stream there to worship. (2) People from many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of Jacob’s God.  There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths.”...

(6) “In that coming day,” says the Lord, “I will gather together those who are lame, those who have been exiles, and those whom I have filled with grief. (7) Those who are weak will survive as a remnant; those who were exiles will become a strong nation. Then I, the Lord, will rule from Jerusalem as their king forever.”  ~Micah 4:1-2, 6-7

For all of us, it will be lovely to be with the Lord in the last days.  But: Did we catch it?  For those confined to wheelchairs and who deal with the lemons of limited-physical functions today, in that day, God will gather together those who are lame, those who have been exiles...and they will survive as a remnant and become a strong nation.

Forget about lemons...how about those apples?

~~~

The (good) Lord is surely with us today, even as we deal with life's lemons.  I watched a team of power soccer players show me that today, and God confirmed it in His Word to us today.

Lemonade anyone?

Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  ~Psalm 23:6


Blessings,

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